FAQs
What is a Home Institution Faculty Sponsor?
A Home Institution Faculty Sponsor is a faculty member at the student’s medical school. This faculty member has a background or interest in geriatrics and assists the student with the application and developing a plan to support the student’s interest in geriatrics throughout the student’s medical school training. The Home Faculty Sponsor may assist the student with home site activities such as attending geriatric lectures, setting up student chapters or interest groups as well as clinical shadowing opportunities. Home Faculty Sponsors are typically faculty in the geriatrics, internal medicine or family medicine divisions who are practicing geriatricians or care for older adults. If you need help identifying a Home Faculty Sponsor, do not hesitate to contact us.
How do I identify a Home Institution Faculty Sponsor?
There are no specific criteria for a Home Institution Faculty Sponsor. Any medical school faculty member who can mentor you in geriatrics during your medical school training would be acceptable. Below are some suggestions for identifying a Home Institution Faculty Sponsor.
- If a faculty member informed you about the MSTAR Program, they would likely make a good Home Institution Faculty Sponsor.
- Contact your medical school’s Department or Division of Geriatrics or Internal Medicine or Family Medicine. They will know of faculty with a background or interest in Geriatrics who may be willing to act as a Home Institution Faculty Sponsor.
- Google search your medical school for the term “geriatrics” or “geriatric medicine” to identify faculty with this background or interest.
- Search the Geriatrics Healthcare Professional website in your city or state.
- Contact the UCLA MSTAR program at [email protected] and we will check our databases for previous Home Institution Faculty Sponsors at your school or in your area.
| Week | Activities |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introductions |
| Check in with Program Adminstrator/Program Director(s) (weekly) | |
| Identify possible research questions | |
| Complete IRB certification | |
| Background literature review | |
| Begin learning relevant research techniques (e.g., laboratory techniques, interviewing subjects, analytic tools) | |
| Attend clinical and curricular sessions | |
| Informal training in Responsible Conduct of Research and Reproducibility (to be continued in all weekly Work-in-Progress sessions) | |
| 2 | Work-in-Progress: Draft Title |
| Determine overall research plan and methodology/techniques | |
| Continue learning research techniques and/or begin research | |
| Attend clinical and curricular sessions (weekly) | |
| 3 | Work-in-Progress: Draft Introduction |
| Continue research | |
| Team-building event | |
| 4 | Work-in-Progress: Methods |
| Start power point presentation | |
| Continue research | |
| 5 | Work-in-Progress: Tables/Graphs/Photos; Acknowledgements |
| Continue research | |
| Geriatric Career Panel | |
| 6 | Work-in-Progress: Data Analysis/Results |
| Continue research | |
| Student organized networking dinner | |
| 7 | Work-in-Progress: Finish power point presentation |
| Finalize research | |
| Oral presentation practice session with student colleagues | |
| 8 | Meet with Program Director(s) for exit interview |
| Finish completing abstract | |
| Oral presentation of research |